On the long weekend in May the sleepy coastal towns of Boyne Island and Tannum Sands are flooded with families from all over Australia to soak up the atmosphere and experience some of the amazing fishing on offer in the Gladstone region during the annual Boyne Tannum Hookup.

 

This year was no different with 3055 people entering the competition and over 8000 people enjoying the event each night.  The Boyne Tannum Hookup has been running for 23 years and each year it continues to grow and inject funds into the region. With over $250,000 in prizes it's hard to imagine why you wouldn't come! It is renowned as Australia’s largest family fishing competition and with 734 children entering this year it indicates that the event is in a good spot to continue to grow.

 

In my eyes, The Boyne Tannum Hookup is more then just a fishing competition. It is a fantastic family event for everyone involved. When your not on the water then you can head down to the banks of the Boyne River to see plenty of smiling faces soaking up the beautiful weather. People from all over Australia and even New Zealand this year, enjoy daily activities including fishing demonstrations, cooking displays and rubber ducky races.

 

And then there's the fishing competition! It's there for the hard core fisherman with some massive fish getting weighed this year. The winning Spanish Mackerel tipped the scales at astonishing 28.5kg, gilled and gutted I might add, plus some huge Red Emperor weighing over 10kg and some massive Jewfish which tipped the scales over 20kg. The live category saw 526 fish weighted in with a couple of the favourites being the 5.4kg Fingermark and 1060mm Barramundi. The beauty of fishing in the region is the huge variety of fish on offer.

 

Outside Edge Adventures got involved this year by running a competition to fish with me in the hookup. Did we catch a winning fish? Sadly no, however the two winners from Brisbane had a great time on the water and got to experience some great fishing along with some amazing scenery on the local reefs and Yellow Patch.  At Outside Edge Adventures we seriously love to fish however on the Saturday afternoon we took some time to crack a cold beer, cook up some of our fish and sit on the beautiful sand dunes of Yellow Patch.

 

The  2018 Boyne Tannum Hookup was a terrific weekend, and can’t wait try my luck again in 2019. See you there!